SOUNDS OF THE '60S

SOUNDS OF THE '60S

FEATURES

Steve Caraway

March of 1964—exactly 20 years ago— what were you doing? The Beatles had just completed their invasion of New York, and indeed, America, via the Ed Sullivan show. The Reverend Billy Graham had broken his long-standing strict rule of not watching television on the Sabbath just to see the Fab Four. 'They're a passing phase,' he said.

At the same time, the Beatles were falling out of favor with England's 500,000 selfdefined 'mods,' and the Who were still the High Numbers with Doug Sanden on drums. Bob Dylan was still driving to his gigs in a late model Ford station wagon and doing the Les Crane TV show. Remember Les Crane? No? Do you remember Bob Dylan?

Berry Gordy's Motown label in '64 was enjoying a string of hits with Mary Wells doing Smokey Robinson's 'My Guy,' Martha and the Vandellas churning out 'Dancing In The Streets'; and Marvin Gaye hitting pay dirt with 'How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You).' Elvis began sinking into movieland mediocrity with films like Viva Las Vegas and feeling the effects of Beatlemania. The members of Def Leppard were still toddlers in diapers.

Despite the pioneering sounds created in the '60s, the musicians of the time were limited in terms of the equipment and outboard gear available to them to produce those:sounds. The technology at that time was simply not available to produce the wide variety of diversified sounds that are available today. Nevertheless, those pioneering sounds created were realized by Using the equipment of the time. The purpose and direction of this article will be an attempt to analyze the classic sounds of the '60s and how they were attained by using the various techniques and equipment available to the artists and the professional musicians of that time.

Working musicians from the '60s probably can remember when a group was luck}; if they had an echo—today groups have multitudes of effects. 1 remember when it was high-tech to have a. couple of Fender Dual Showmen put together for a PA system. Today groups go into clubs with multi-amped systems with sophisticated mains, as well as complete monitor systems. The musicians of the '60s didn't know what a monitor system was. Mixer? What's a mixer? Today, up and coming groups cart around these beautiful audio decks in protective anvil cases. During the '60s, a band was lucky to have a small Calrad mixer to plug their three or four microphones into. Electronic equipment available in those days was pretty Neanderthal.

So how did the groups of the '60s get all those strange and wonderful sounds and tones that we grew to love and that grew to influence the overall sound of the music produced today? Certainly the most obvious answer would be experimentation. Stories and rumors abound about the various techniques used by artists of the day to create those unique tones and sounds. Did Dave Davies of the Kinks really slice his speakers up to get that nice fat fuzz sound on 'All Day And All Of The Night'? Is that rumor about Jimi Hendrix sealing off a studio and filling it with water and recording guitar sounds just above the water's surface true? Eddie Kramer denied it, but did say that Hendrix used water to realize effects on certain occasions during the recording of Electric Ladyland. 'Fess up, Eddie—tell us what he did—tell us how you guys did it.

One could harken back many a year to the existence of Blue Cheer, possibly the first heavy metal band ever. To get their sound on one recording session, they recorded outdoors on a Sausalito pier. Talk about eccentric! Talk about budget! No matter what technique was used by whatever artist, experimentation was the key word in producing pioneering sounds of the '60s.

One would first have to look at the recording techniques and technology of the '60s and compare them to those of the '80s. The audio mixers were different, the tape used to record the artists was different, and the microphones used were different in recording those sounds. The array of outboard effects certainly is much greater today than it was in the '60s. To best illustrate the state of technology in those days, check out any old Beatle documentary that features instudio shots of the boys and take note of those old mixing consoles with their large cumbersome black knobs, big and bulky VU meters and overall lack of general cosmetics. Those consoles looked more like wellendowed armored cars than a high-tech precision device. At the same time, those old mixers did capture those sounds and did accurately lay them down for the tape machine to pick up. But the bottom line was that it came down to the instruments, the amps and effects that those artists played in the studio, and how they used all the experimentation techniques and technology to make those sounds.

To best understand the sounds that permeated and seasoned the classic rock of the '60s, it's best to whittle down to the core of tunes that features those true pioneering sounds.

The first song that comes to mind is 'Satisfaction' by the Rolling Stones. Released in July of 1965, the rock 'n' roll song of the era began with a curious sounding distorted three-note motif that occurred over and over again within the song. The introduction of the first fuzz-toned guitar presented on vinyl signaled the introduction of the processed electronic musical instrument sound. From that simple beginning of taking Keith Richards's guitar signal, placing it into a pre-amp and then placing it into a Vox tube musical instrument amplifier, has come the array of effects that are available to the working musician today. From Dual Time Delays to Flangers to Echos to Echo Choruses to Compression devices and Overdrive devices.. .the list goes on and on and on.

During the '60s, a band was lucky to have a small Calrad mixer to plug their three or four microphones into. Electronic equipment available in those days was pretty Neanderthal.

When on the subject of altered electronic musical instrument sounds, one can't help but remember the introduction of a unique altered musical instrument sound, this without the use of any signal processors, and that was the use of feedback within a musical setting. On a single issued in November 1964 as a follow-up to 'A Hard Day's Night,' the Beatles recorded a song called 'I Feel Fine,' which opens with a single note feedback from George Harrison's Gretsch Country Gentleman, then goes into the riff around which the song is based. This was the first time that feedback had been used in a musical setting on vinyl and it spun ideas in many musicians' heads, like Pete Townshend, Jeff Beck, and eventually Jimi Hendrix. All used feedback as musical statements and not just as a noise. Several theories revolved around the sound that appeared at the beginning of 'I Feel Fine,' some of those theories including the idea of an amplified humming bee. In fact, it wasn't until two years later that the Beatles used pre-recorded sound effects, and we'll cover that later.

With the popularity of 'I Feel Fine,' the contemporary music world had opened its eyes to the use of feedback as a musical statement. In groups like the Yardbirds, with Jeff Beck on lead guitar, and groups like the Who with Pete Townshend on lead guitar, and the introduction of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, pioneering players utilizing that technique to create musical statements and amelodic motifs.

In 1967, the Jimi Hendrix Experience released its first LP on the Reprise label entitled Are You Experienced? 'Third Stone From The Sun' was a cascade of feedback, amelodic motifs, intricately planned hypnotic guitar riffs, interlaced to create an ethereal space odyssey that actually betrayed the simple recording techniques used to capture it.

Unlike 'My Generation,' 'Third Stone From The Sun' featured various layered sounds as a backdrop to Jimi's story of an alien coming closer to Earth, for as Jimi says: 'Your mysterious mountains I wish to see closer.'

Hendrix expanded the use of amelodic passages to create an overall futuristic sound. In creating the backing sounds of 'Third Stone From The Sun,' Hendrix used backward, slowed-down voices, a combination of hisses, drones, coughs, pops, belches and other sounds that he produced with his Marshall amps and Fender Stratocaster. Combinations of wah-wah, overdriven feedback and multiand single note passages combined to create one of the most unusual sounds ever captured on tape during the '60s. Engineered and recorded by Eddie Kramer, this song is a fitting example of experimentation in the early days of rock 'n' roll recording. As alluded to earlier, rumor has it that Jimi sealed off an area of the stuido and filled it with water, then proceeded to record his guitar, utilizing a microphone to take the guitar sounds as reflected off the surface of the water.

The overall innovative sound that was produced in this recording is pretty much summed up by the artist when Jimi states in the lyric: 'You will never hear surf music again.' He made his point. Like 'My Generation,' the song ends wth his guitar being brutalized. The sounds of feedback, electronic drones and tremelo bar technique combine to give the impression that Jimi is generally violating his instrument. Long uncontrollable belching feedback ends the song with Jimi's guitar fading off in the midst of further backing noises recorded backwards, sped up, slowed down and altered to finish off the effect of this rock classic.

Approximately a year before Hendrix recorded 'Third Stone From The Sun,' the Beatles released their Revolver album, in August of '66. A song from that album which falls into the same category of innovative use of altered sounds and tape loops to produce a psychedelic effect is called 'Tomorrow Never Knows.' This threeminute tune was originally called 'The Void,' and some of the lyrics of this Lennon-McCartney composition come straight from The Tibetan Book Of The Dead. Like 'Third Stone From The Sun,' the song features a backdrop collage of sound effects made up of backward-running tape loops which produce strange sounds some people thought resembled a herd of stampeding elephants. John Lennon, who sings solo vocal on 'Tomorrow Never Knows,' sang part of the tune through a megaphone to help create the overall eerie effect of the song. This was the Beatles' most experimental recording at the time, and it signaled the unofficial beginning of psychedelia in popular rock music. It might be mentioned that all of the sound effects were originated by John and Ringo for this recording and they were arranged by Paul.

Another point to be mentioned concerning 'Tomorrow Never Knows' is George Harrison's use of the sitar. George had experimented with this acoustic Indian instrument on the Rubber Soul album when he played it on 'Norwegian Wood.' This time around, George took the instrument one step further, and it was interlaced with the other backing tape loops and sounds to create that psychedelic feeling.

To steer clear of the psychedelic movement of the mid-'60s, one can backtrack a little bit to a couple of songs that contained unique and new instrumental sounds that were landmarks in the overall sounds of the decade. In 1964, the Animals released one of the best British R&B cover tunes ever issued—'Flouse Of The Rising Sun.' Aside from being a perfect example of young British men trying to sound black, the song features a strong pioneering sound as one of the main focuses of the tune. The Vox Continental organ played by Alan Price dominates the song and is the focus of the song's solo. The heat of the tune comes from Alan Price's organ work, in addition to Eric Burdon's scorching vocals. In fact, the solo and the sound of the Vox Continental organ set new standards in the overall sound of the mid-60s rock music. Today, many new pop bands rely quite heavily on this Vox Continental sound as the main focus of an identifying sound and feel.

In 1965, the Byrds, comprised of Jim McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Gene Clark, David Crosby and Michael Clarke, released their first record entitled, 'Mr. Tambourine Man.' The song, composed by Bob Dylan, featured a cathedral-like 12-string guitar sound that dominated the song. On the liner notes of their first album, McGuinn writes: 'I think the difference is in the mechanical sounds of our time. Like the sounds of an airplane in the '40s was a rrrrrrrrraaaaaaahhhhhhhhh sound, and Sinatra and other people sang like that with those sorts of overtones. Now we've got the krrriiiiissssshhhhhhhh jet sound, and the kids are singing up in there now. It's the mechanical sounds of the era—the sounds are different and so the music is different.'

No matter how it's stated, the Byrds' pioneering sound combined the grace of the best rock 'n' roll with the finesse and meaning of folk music. McGuinn's 12-string symphony emanated from the classic Rickenbacher 12-string guitar.

The Rickenbacher 12-string through a Fender Twin Reverb became the Byrds' unique song signature and changed the course of contemporary music's sound.

The late '60s also produced the seed for a new type of music that wouldn't gain massive popularity and commercial success until the mid-'70s. The heavy metal sound in rock began to germinate with the sounds of Cream, and later Led Zeppelin. Strangely enough, both bands featured ex-guitar players from the Yardbirds. Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page began to set the standards for power guitarists.

In 1967, Cream, (Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce) debuted with their first LP, Fresh Cream. But it wasn't until later that year—when they released Disraeli Gears—that the music community got a good listen with 'Sunshine Of Your Love.' A four minute, ten second powerhouse of a song in a world of two minute and 50 second rock renderings, 'Sunshine Of Your Love' brought forth several sound innovations, including upfront use of the percussion tracks, as well as Clapton's expanded solo—which helped define the rock guitar sound of the '70s. Using a Gibson SG solid body guitar through Marshall tube amplifiers, Clapton was able to blaze new trails in rock guitar sounds. Eric's fat, distorted tones dominated the recording which was produced by Felix Pappalardi and engineered by Tom Dowd.

This memorable Cream tune also was pushed by the dominant rhythm section, primarily spotlighting the heavy loping, powerful drums of Ginger Baker. The placement of Baker's drums in the recording is unique for the '60s, unlike today when it is very common to have the percussion tracks placed up front in the final sound mix. Today's heavy metal artists owe a great deal of their sound and sound influences to early Cream recordings like 'Sunshine Of Your Love.' Extended searing guitar solos featured the Gibson and Marshall sound, along with upfront, hard-driving, drums.

Robert Plant was possibly the first 'heavy metal' songstylist to fill the airwaves with his siren-like wailings. At the same time, Rod Stewart was fronting the Jeff Beck Group— and it was essentially Plant and Stewart who initiated vocalists everywhere into the stylings of a true metal lead vocalist. Regardless of Robert Plant's visibility in Led Zeppelin, it was Page who steered the group through its musical meanderings and brilliant recordings, for he also doubled as the group's producer. It was he who constructed the hard rock sound of the '70s in .Led Zeppelin's initial recordings in the late '60s.*

The Sounds of the '60s were crude, influential and most of all, diverse. In discussing the pioneering sounds of the '60s and how they were attained using the now relatively archaic equipment of the time, one can easily overlook various influential recordings, individuals and musical movements. Not to mention Phil Spector, Brian Wilson & the Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, the Doors, Sly Stone, Otis Redding, the various San Francisco bands of the psychedelic '60s and many others is close to sacrilege.