Overview
As we saw in the last lesson, the 1960s saw an increase in the control of record companies and a decrease in the power of musicians and disc jockeys. In this lesson, we will consider some other styles of music that were popular during the early 1960s and how those genres of music related to the changes in the music industry that we saw in the previous lesson. The record producer became an increasingly important part of the recording process, often considered more important to the final product than the singer. On the West Coast, the genre of surf rock emerged, capturing the hearts and minds of American teenagers.
Objectives
- Examine how and why the producer was such a critical part of the recording process, focusing specifically on Phil Spector and how he created his wall of sound
- Recognize the stylistic characteristics of surf rock
- Examine the different influences that contributed to surf rock
Introduction
As we saw in the last lesson, the decade of the 1960s saw an increase in the control of record companies and a decrease in the power of musicians and disc jockeys. The major labels attempted to dictate the performers’ images, as we saw with the rise of the teen idol. In this lesson, we will consider some other styles of music that were popular during the early 1960s and how those genres of music related to the changes in the music industry that we saw in the previous lesson. The record producer became an increasingly important part of the recording process, often considered more important to the final product than the singer. On the West Coast, the genre of surf rock emerged, capturing the hearts and minds of American teenagers.
Throughout this lesson, it is important to note the role of African American music and musicians in these new genres and approaches to music. As we will see, African American musicians were crucial to the creation of much of this music, although their contributions were not necessarily recognized appropriately. For example, although Brian Wilson based the Beach Boys’ song "Surfin' U.S.A. ♫" on a song by Chuck Berry, he did not offer Berry a songwriting credit until Berry sued.
