Sunday Morning Playlist: British Invasion

 

If one were to narrow down the musical developments in rock music to the bare essentials in terms of impact, the short list might look like this: Elvis' arrival, The Beatles' arrival, punk's arrival, and alternative rock's arrival. An even shorter list might simply say: the Beatles arrival had more to do with rock's evolution than any other singular event.

Of course, it wasn't just the Beatles that "arrived" in America in 1964. It was also the Rolling Stones, and The Animals, and The Kinks, and The Yardbirds, and later The Who, The Hollies, and key names, each of which would inspire hundreds of bands apiece. There was also an enormous roster of now semi-forgotten also-rans that accompanied the Beatles in their invasion of the American charts in 1964-1965, some quite good (Them, The Small Faces, The Pretty Things), some lightweight but inoffensive (Dave Clark Five, The Searchers, Lulu), some quite silly (Freddie & The Dreamers, Herman's Hermits). Not all of it is essential listening; much of it really does bear little relevance to anything today. But the best of it not only still makes good compelling and exciting listening, it also represents the very bedrock upon which modern rock (as opposed to rock 'n' roll) is built.

In 1963, the American charts were fairly devoid of rock 'n' roll; the most compelling voices of the 50's had been largely neutered. Elvis had gone into the army and came out a popmeister. Chuck Berry was thrown in jail on dubious charges with racial overtones, where he languished. Jerry Lee Lewis was blacklisted for marrying his underaged cousin. Little Richard, perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, had become a preacher. In 1963, Jan & Dean's unthreatening "Surf City" was the only rock 'n' roll hit to reach #1; other #1 artists of 1963 included Steve Lawrence, Bobby Vinton, The Singing Nun, Kyu Sakamoto, Lesley Gore, and Paul & Paula. The closest thing to "rock" were the youthful pop stylings of the Four Seasons, or the girl-group pop of The Chiffons, neither of which could really be called "rock" with a straight face. Gone were anthems to jailhouses, school days, shaking, and wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom.

 

America may have invented rock 'n' roll, but it took the British to save it.

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