1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music - Andrew Grant Jackson.epub

During twelve unforgettable months in the middle of the turbulent Sixties, America saw the rise of innovative new sounds that would change popular music as we knew it. In 1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music, music historian Andrew Grant Jackson (Still the Greatest: The Essential Songs of The Beatles’ Solo Careers) chronicles a ground-breaking year of creativity fueled by rivalries between musicians and continents, sweeping social changes, and technological breakthroughs.

While the Beatles played Shea Stadium and made their first major artistic statement with Rubber Soul, the Rolling Stones topped the American charts for the first time with the sexually aggressive “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” and the Who staked out their territory with the classic “My Generation.” Bob Dylan released his six-minute opus “Like a Rolling Stone” from Highway 61 Revisited and sent shock waves through the music community when he went electric at the Newport Folk Festival. Barry Maguire sang of the “Eve of Destruction” and Simon and Garfunkel released their first number-one hit with “The Sounds of Silence.”

Never before had popular music been so diverse. Soul and funk became prime forces of desegregation as James Brown scored his first Top Ten songs, the Temptations topped the charts with “My Girl,” and Otis Redding released the classic LP Otis Blue with his composition “Respect.” Meanwhile, The Righteous Brothers’ version of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” became the longest song to hit number one. Country music reached new heights with the Nashville and Bakersfield sounds. John Coltrane released his jazz masterpiece A Love Supreme. Bob Marley released his first album with the Wailers. And in Northern California, the Grateful Dead gave their first performances at Ken Kesey’s “Acid Test” parties.

Jackson weaves fascinating and often surprising stories into a panoramic narrative of the seismic cultural shifts wrought by the Civil Rights Movement, feminism, Youthquake, the miniskirt, the Pill, psychedelics, and Vietnam. 1965 is a fascinating account of a defining year that produced some of the greatest songs, albums, and artists of all time.

Praise for 1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music

“Andrew Grant Jackson makes a powerful case…This book is a welcome reminder of some truly great music. Recommended.”—National Review Online

“Jackson’s rapid-fire jaunt through the musical highlights of 1965—the rise of Motown and Stax Records, the early music of David Bowie, the arrival of the Bakersfield sound—is a helpful survey for readers unfamiliar with the history of popular music.”—Publishers Weekly

"Jackson presents a thoroughly entertaining romp through one mighty year in pop-music history."—Booklist

"Lively… ackson does a solid job covering the hit-makers."—Kirkus Reviews

“From the Beatles to the Byrds, from Dylan to the Stones, from the Beach Boys to Motown, author Andrew G. Jackson brilliantly details how the year 1965 was essentially rock and roll’s coming-out party. 1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music is filled with interesting insight and analysis into how a unique confluence of cultural events helped spur many of popular music’s all-time greats to reach their artistic apex, all within one, short, action-packed twelve-month period. If you weren’t there the first time around — or even if you were — sit back and prepare yourself for one heck of a ‘ticket to ride.’”—Kent Hartman, author of the Los Angeles Times bestseller The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll’s Best-Kept Secret, winner of the Oregon Book Award and the Audie Award

“1965 is a year that pop fans... revere [for] the sheer volume of innovative music and cultural transformation. A half-century on, it all remains astonishing but Jackson takes us through these 365 earth-changing days with steady hands and an addictive style. I started making a playlist almost immediately.”—Marc Spitz, author of We Got the Neutron Bomb and Twee

“The Beatles, Stones, Dylan, Coltrane, The Dead, Velvet Underground, Motown … what wasn’t happening in 1965? Andrew Grant Jackson painstakingly chronicles this pivotal year in music with an eye for detail and the big picture – an exciting ride with a timeless soundtrack.”—Joel Selvin, author of Summer of Love