Sixties Pop

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(Founder, Atlantic Records, 1923–2006) Ertegun came to the US as son of the Turkish ambassador in 1934 and stayed, founding Atlantic Records in 1947 with brother Nesuhi. Having won the trust of performers with fair contract and royalty dealings, he actively pursued the crossover market in the 1950s, selling black music by Ray Charles and others to a white audience who previously only bought bland cover versions of it. He developed ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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(Guitar, vocals, b. 1945) Once lead guitarist with Bournemouth’s Tony Blackburn and The Rovers, Stewart’s commercial discography as a solo artist commenced with a 1966 Xerox of a Yardbirds LP track, ‘Turn Into Earth’. Very bound up in himself lyrically, he impinged on national consciousness via mild media uproar over his insertion of a rude word in autobiographical ‘Love Chronicles’, title track of a 1969 album. As a post-Woodstock singer-songwriter, he ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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(Vocal group, 1966–70) This horn-laden outfit from south Wales had gained a formidable reputation for exacting musical standards and a natural vitality when they reached the UK Top 20 with 1967’s funereal-paced ‘Gin House Blues’. More nakedly commercial hits included a No. 1 with ‘(If Paradise Is) Half As Nice’ (which was covered by The Dave Clark Five for the US market). Following disbandment, Andy Fairweather-Low (vocals) had qualified success with, ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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The undisputed Queen of Soul since the title was first applied to her in the late 1960s, Aretha Franklin has been hailed as the greatest soul diva of all time. Possessing a voice of power and passion (and an underrated talent on the piano) she has turned her attention to everything from pop through jazz to classical; but with a grounding in gospel it was in soul music that she found ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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(Vocals, 1946–2003) Discovered in 1965 by Otis Redding, Conley shared with him an admiration for Sam Cooke. Redding gets a name-check (twice) in Conley’s one big hit, ‘Sweet Soul Music’ (produced by Redding in 1967), a frantic rock’n’roll work-out with punctuating brass, which exuberantly celebrated the soul greats of the day. Conley was a regular member of the Stax/Volt Soul Revue package that toured America and Europe. Styles & Forms | Sixties ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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(Vocal/instrumental group, 1965–75) Although their best-known work was released in the 1970s, Badfinger had been around since 1965 as The Iveys in their native north Wales. In 1966, they toured the UK backing David Garrick. Signed to the Apple Records label in 1968 as The Beatles’ potential successors, Tom Evans (bass), Mike Gibbins (drums), Pete Ham (guitar, piano, vocals) and Joey Molland (guitar, replacing Ron Griffiths) released their first album as ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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(Songwriter, b. 1941) Strong was a Motown staff writer whose own 1960 hit ‘Money’ helped fund the label’s early expansion. His compositions with Norman Whitfield included ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’, and led Motown’s forays into more socially aware territory with hits like Edwin Starr’s ‘War’ and many of The Temptations’ psychedelic soul outings. Strong won a 1972 Grammy for their ‘Papa Was A Rolling Stone’, but quit Motown when ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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(Vocals, b. 1938) Ben E. King was lead singer on The Drifters’ 1959 hits, including ‘There Goes My Baby’ and ‘Save The Last Dance For Me’. He quit in 1960 over royalty payments, finding solo success with 1961’s ‘Spanish Harlem’, and co-wrote the follow-up, ‘Stand By Me’, a US top 5 hit and his meal-ticket recording. King escaped the revival circuit in 1975 with a surprise US disco hit ‘Supernatural Thing’ ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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(Founder, Motown Records, b. 1929) Gordy co-wrote Jackie Wilson’s ‘Reet Petite’ in 1957 while working on Detroit’s Ford assembly line and started Motown in 1959 with an $800 loan, creating a factory-like hit-making process. Gordy scouted talented Detroit performers and matched them to equally talented in-house writers and producers. He fostered a family atmosphere of (mostly) friendly rivalry, which earned him the nickname Pops. Gordy exercised strict control of Motown’s output. The ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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(Vocals, 1940–83) This fated Liverpudlian was on a par with Cliff Richard as a British Elvis Presley, enjoying 11 Top 10 hits before vanishing into a cabaret netherworld. Though dogged by severe ill health, he resurfaced as a typecast rock’n’roll singer in the 1973 movie That’ll Be The Day. As he may have wished, he died with a record in the charts – 1983’s ‘Devil Or Angel’ – although he was ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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(Vocal/instrumental group, 1969) Billed as ‘the supergroup of all times’, Steve Winwood (keyboards, vocals), Eric Clapton (guitar), Rick Grech (bass) and Ginger Baker (drums) were an amalgam of ex-members of Cream, Traffic and Family. Launched with a free concert in London’s Hyde Park, they broke up after a troubled US tour. Winwood then reformed a Traffic that was to recruit Grech in 1970, while Clapton recorded a solo album and Baker ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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(Vocal/instrumental group, 1967–present) They were the most famous rock equivalent of a ‘brass band’ – founder member Al Kooper’s own description. With a sensational horn section always high in the mix, 1968’s Child Is Father To The Man established them a musicianly act that was to serve as role model for Colosseum and The Average White Band and the more sophisticated US jazz rock of Weather Report and Return To Forever. ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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Next to The Beatles, Bob Dylan was the most influential artist of his generation, writing and performing songs whose poetic, sometimes-abstract, often-philosophical lyrics of astute commentary and therapeutic introspection spoke to the masses during an era of social unrest, political upheaval and radical change. While cross-pollinating folk and country with electric rock, Dylan elevated the role of the singer-songwriter and, in so doing, introduced an entirely new dimension to popular music. From ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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(Vocals, b. 1943) The former Robert Velline was prominent among a crop of insipidly handsome boys-next-door who thrived in the early 1960s, having deputized on stage for Buddy Holly the evening after the Texan’s fatal plane crash in 1959. Vee’s hits included ‘Rubber Ball’, ‘Take Good Care Of My Baby’ – a US No. 1 – ‘Run To Him’ and ‘The Night Has A Thousand Eyes’. He enjoyed a brief second ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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(Instrumental group, 1962–71, 1973–77, 1994–present) Stax Records’ house band, Booker T. And The M.G.s also toured and recorded instrumentals in their own right. More than any other group they defined the sound of 1960s soul with their sparse, funky arrangements on hits for other Stax and Atlantic stars like Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, and Otis Redding. Booker T. Jones, Stax’s sax and organ prodigy, formed The M.G.s (Memphis Group) with ...

Source: The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock, general editor Michael Heatley
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