1965

The Most Revolutionary Year in Music

By: Andrew Grant Jackson

Narrated by: Peter Berkrot

Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

During 12 unforgettable months in the middle of the turbulent '60s, 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 groundbreaking year of creativity fueled by rivalries between musicians and continents, sweeping social changes, and technological breakthroughs.

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.

©2015 Andrew Grant Jackson (P)2018 Tantor

Seems like a good overview

I was in high school in 1965, and while the events and music are quite familiar, I experienced them day by day and I had no real sense of the overarching whole. It is nice to be able to see the forest and not just the trees.
But there were enough factual mistakes to make me distrust some of what is written. I saw a few mistakes early, but the first chapter on folk rock had more than few. Jackson keeps referring to Larry Knechtel as a bass player. It was keyboards while Joe Osborn played bass (and Hal Blaine played drums), at least on the Lou Adler/Dunhill recordings. A big deal? No, but if facts are stated, then the facts should be correct.
Jackson implies that PF Sloan was inexperienced when he wrote ‘Eve of Destruction,’ but Sloan had been around for more than five years. When Adler started Dunhill, he brought the songwriting team of Sloan & Barri with him. They had worked with Adler when he recorded Jan & Dean. Sloan & Barri made a record - with studio musicians - as the Fantastic Baggys to capitalize on their surf compositions. The Grass Roots were Sloan & Barry’s second album made with studio musicians. That success lead to Adler finding a real LA band willing to change their name. As for the name Grass Roots, the band Love had become the next big thing in LA as the Grass Roots. The band name came off words on the cover of a Malcolm X album. When Adler did not get the real Grass Roots to sign with him, he poached their name for his new studio project. And their single, ‘Mr. Jones,’ was a Dylan composition.
There were a few other mistakes in that chapter, such as John Sebastian being a member of the Mugwumps. Sebastian was a sideman for the Mugwumps for a gig, but that was Cass’s idea to get Sebastian to play with Yanovsky.
As I said, not really a big deal, but just because something is in print does not make it true. In this case, it just raised a few doubts about the truthfulness about what I read.
But I was quite pleased with the book overall, and I am glad that I heard. I was not impressed with the narrator, particularly when he pronounces agape with two syllables instead of the three that would be correct when talking about love.

9/10th of a good listen

Competent storytelling until the epilogue, in which he tells us what it all means. Then there is a surprising turn for the worse. He asserts that a nation that takes LSD is embracing freedom, which is good, but a nation taking anti-depressants is anesthetizing itself and no longer hip and healthy. And he says that the Christian dissidents who first settled the country did so to enable non-Christians to thrive, not a thought that was on their minds. Best to skip the epilogue (the editor must have wandered off) and decide for yourself what it all means, then begin a new book.

interesting for rock and roll fans

fair amount of politics but I understand that politics were important in mid 60s rock music. lots of interesting information there's nothing particularly groundbreaking.

Juicy but over-thought

Loads of juicy nuggets of information, but over done in that every concept seems over thought. Too many references to Mr. tambourine Man and its influence on everything! Creativity seems diminished as a result.