My Musical Journey – High School Years
I attended high school from September 1963 through June of 1967. The music of that period was flooded by the British Invasion groups, particularly The Beatles, but there was lots of American music too.
1964 was the year of The Beatles and the British Invasion. As I mentioned in the previous piece the The Supremes, as well as The Beach Boys, and The 4 Seasons (“Ronnie”, “Ragdoll”) were also prominent. Other artists and songs that year were, Roy Orbison's “Oh Pretty Woman”, Dean Martin with “Everybody Loves Somebody“, and, don't we all remember, The Dixie Cups “Chapel of Love”. Lorne Greene, of Ponderosa fame, had a #1 hit with “Ringo” that year. Perhaps you don't need to remember that one. Other than “Ringo” I bought all these songs. I spent much of the summer of '64 at Crescent Beach again. I was 15. For money that summer I cut lawns and worked weekends at the Van Sise Farm Stand in Syosset. I didn't need working papers because working for Van Sise Farms fell under the farm labor rules.
The 4 Seasons song “Ronnie” stood out for me that summer because I liked a girl by that name. She was frequently part of the crowd at Crescent Beach that summer. I tried to get her to like me but she was too smart for that. I attempted to strike up a conversation when I could. I also called her a few times but she really didn't want anything to do with me. I finally got the hint, well it actually took more than a hint as I don't seem to give up easily. At one point she had one of her girlfriends answer the phone pretending to be her. Ronnie was an honor student and I wasn't. She was taking the advanced classes so we never shared a class together. I like smart girls but seems they don't always like me.
The music of my high school years was not just dominated by The Beatles there were other British Invasions groups too, particularly the Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Kinks. Well there were a host of others such as The Dave Clark Five, Herman's Hermits, Jerry and the Pacemakers, The Animals, The Yardbirds, and The Hollies just to name a few.
1965 was the year The Rolling Stones had their first #1 hit with (I can't Get No) Satisfaction”. There was lots of music from the U.S.A. There was The Beach Boys “Help Me Rhonda”, “I Get Around”, and “California Girls”. Motown songs such as the Temptations (“My Girl”), The Supremes (“Stop in the Name of Love”), Smokey Robinson (“Tracks of My Tears”), the Four Tops (“I Can't Help Myself”), and Martha & The Vandellas (“Nowhere To Run”). I still listened to what we called Soul music: artists such as Etta James, James Brown, Wilson Picket, Aretha Franklin, and Sam Cooke. Sam Cooks' song “A Change is Gonna Come” is one of my all-time favorite songs. There was also the blue-eyed soul artists like The Righteous Brothers with their iconic pop hit, “You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'”, and The Rascals (“Good Lovin'”). The Rascals had to later change their name to The Young Rascals. They were sort of a local band to me. They were actually from New Jersey but they played a lot on Long Island and had a standing gig at The Barge, a club out in the Hamptons. I saw them once at a club in Nassau county. Three of the band members had been in Joey Dee's Starlighters (Peppermint Twist). The Starlighters also included a guy named Joe Pesci, the actor, but he was not part of The Rascals, at least not as far as I know. I got into the “new” electric Bob Dylan (“Like a Rolling Stone”). I knew of Bob Dylan and a few of his songs but it was that song that convinced me to buy an album of his (Highway 61 Revisited). I then bought his 2 previous albums as well as “Blonde on Blonde” in '66. Late in the Year, my Junior year, The Byrds showed up with “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Turn, Turn, Turn”. There was a plethora of all kinds of pop music showing up.
That December ('65) The Beatles released a new album, Rubber Soul, their 6th in less than 2 years. Not only that they had also made two movies and constantly toured all while writing their own songs. That was an incredible output. I purchased all of their albums and the singles as well as their single songs often not on the albums. The Rubber Soul album showed The Beatles song writing was progressing. They were moving beyond the Merseybeat sound and the simpler “She Loves Me” and “I want to Hold Your Hand” type songs. The music was more sophisticated and it was a sign of things to come. It marked a turning point for The Beatles. I loved Rubber Soul from the beginning. I remember playing that album over and over that winter. It's still one of my favorite Beatles' albums.
I was drawn to The Who because of the base-line in much of their music. Check out “Boris The Spider” and “My Generation”. It's almost like the bass was the playing the lead at times. Their bass guitarist, John Entwistle, plays a strong driving baseline. I tend to like songs with prominent or driving baselines. I guess that's why I particularly liked songs like “Rescue Me” (Fontella Bass) – “Under The Boardwalk” (Drifters) – “She's Not There” (Zombies) “My Girl” and “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” (Temptations) – “Sunny” (Bobby Hebb) “Eight Miles High” (Byrds) – “Cool Jerk” (Capitols) – (“Your Love Keeps Liftin' Me) Higher” (Jackie Wilson) and later “Money” by Pink Floyd, “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson, and “Come Together” by The Beatles.
The James Brown Band's strong baselines stood out to me and I liked how they played on the off-beat. Evidently I'm a sucker for syncopation. Of course syncopation is a key element in jazz music and it's also a key element of Ska and Reggae music. I suppose that's one of the reasons I like that genre so much and also like Bossa Nova music. I had never herd of Ska or Reggae when I was in high school but I liked two songs, Millie Small's “My Boy Lollipop” ('64) and Owen Gray's “Please Let Me Go” that I later realized were Ska songs.
From '63 through '67 I was no longer listening much to my parents' music. I would still on occasion listen to a couple of their Broadway albums but pretty much mostly West Side Story and every once in awhile My Fair Lady or South Pacific. I largely stopped listening to Jazz music during this period with a few exceptions when the occasional jazz song that would show up on the pop charts and hence get some play on the radio. Examples: Java – Al Hurt (64) - The “In” Crowd” – Ramsey Lewis Trio (65) and I suppose Goldfinger – Shirley Bassey (65) and “That's Life” – Frank Sinatra (66). In the fall of my junior year, 1965, my father bought the new Frank Sinatra album “September of My Years”. I liked the album and found myself playing it even when Dad wasn't. That was another exception, although you might call that album more pop or easy listening. I'm not sure why that album resonated with me because it's about the latter part of life and I was just at the beginning of mine.
I'll close with a list of songs I enjoyed listening to a lot by some American groups. I believe most of these groups had just one or maybe two pop chart hits: The Rivieras – “California Sun” (64) - The Ad Libs – “Boy From New York City” (65) - Roy Head – “Treat Her Right” (65) - Count Five - “Psychotic Reaction” (65) - Bobby Fuller 4 – “I Fought The Law” (65) (This was a cover of a Crickets song from '60 post Buddy Holly ) - The Castaways – “Liar Liar” (65) - The Standells – “Dirty Water” (66) - The Blues Magoos – “We Ain't Got Nothing Yet” (66) - Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels “ Devil With The Blue Dress On” (66) - Robert Parker – “Barefootin'” ( '66) - The 5 Americans – “Western Union” (67), and Frankie Valli – “Can't Take My Eyes Off You” (67). I also remember listening a bit to The Blues Project although I don't think they had any hits on the pop charts. For some reason I bought their album. They were based in Greenwich Village, NYC so perhaps I saw them there. ?
Lastly I gotta mention “Gloria”, the “B” side of “Baby Please Don't Go” by Them (Van Morrison). Didn't we all at least attempt to play those famous three chords when we first picked up a guitar?
Gloria by The Them Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14693R2cxYM
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