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Music of the 1960s
59 OffStereo shows from the 1960s. Among them: Ethio-Jazz: Alien Grooves, Ethio-Jazz: Vibraphone & Addis.
Ethio-Jazz: Alien Grooves
Mulatu Astatke, Mahmoud Ahmed, and Hailu Mergia's Ethio-jazz, born from 1960s Addis Ababa fusion, found global life through 'Éthiopiques' reissues and inspires new generations today.
Answers: who is considered the father of ethio-jazz?
Ethio-Jazz: Vibraphone & Addis
Mulatu Astatke's Ethio-jazz blends Ethiopian scales with Western rhythms, sparking Addis Ababa's "Swinging Addis" era before the Derg junta sends it worldwide.
Answers: What is Ethio-jazz?
Tropicalia: Brazil's Rebel Sound
Tropicália challenges Brazil's 1968 dictatorship, as artists like Caetano Veloso and Os Mutantes fuse global sounds with cultural cannibalism into a provocative, uniquely Brazilian resistance.
Answers: What was Tropicália?
Mutants, Mayhem, and '68 Brazil
Brazil's 1968 Tropicália movement, with Os Mutantes' 'Panis et Circencis' as its manifesto, fuses psychedelic rock and local sounds to challenge military rule.
Answers: what was Tropicália?
Gilberto Gil: Guitar Echoes
Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, and Os Mutantes fuse Brazilian rhythms with rock and pop, creating Tropicalia's defiant sound that challenges a regime and reshapes music from 1967 to 1972.
Answers: What was the significance of "Aquele Abraço" by Gilberto Gil?
Kingston's Rhythm Shift: Ska to Rocksteady
Kingston's 1960s sound slows from The Skatalites' ska to Alton Ellis's rocksteady, a shift driven by Jamaica's post-independence mood and a desire for soulful grooves.
Answers: What influenced the sound of ska?
Ethio-Jazz: Hip-Hop's Global Pulse
Mulatu Astatke's Ethio-jazz, pioneered in 1960s Boston, finds a new groove in 90s hip-hop, as Digable Planets and A Tribe Called Quest embrace its unique sound for tracks like "Rebirth of Slick" and "Electric.
Answers: What is Ethio-jazz?
Gil Scott-Heron: Revolutionary Bluesologist
Gil Scott-Heron's radical spoken word, from 1970's "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," forged a militant voice for Black self-determination and inner-city life, influencing generations of hip-hop artists like Common.
Answers: what inspired "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"?
Jazz's Revolutionary Sixties
The 1960s transformed jazz, as Coltrane's modal innovations, Dolphy's free explorations, and Adderley's soul grooves radically diversified the sound.
Answers: What were the main styles of jazz in the 1960s?
Brazil: Psych, Protest, Exile
From Caetano Veloso's "Alegria, Alegria" to Elis Regina's "O Bêbado e a Equilibrista," Brazilian artists defy the 1964 military dictatorship with protest, subversion, and anthems of hope.
Answers: why were brazilian musicians exiled in the 60s and 70s?
Phnom Penh's Golden Age Rock
Phnom Penh's 1960s "golden era" sees Sinn Sisamouth, Pan Ron, and Yol Aularong fuse Khmer tradition with Western rock and pop, defining the "Paris of the East" sound.
Answers: what happened to the Cambodian rock scene of the 60s and 70s?
Alice Coltrane: Harp of the Divine
Alice Coltrane's spiritual journey, from Dorothy Ashby's harp to Eastern philosophies, births a cosmic jazz language that echoes John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders.
Answers: what does the name Turiyasangitananda mean?
Soul's Sacred Journey: Aretha's Roots
Aretha Franklin's gospel roots, honed by Clara Ward and Sam Cooke, ignite her soul sound at Muscle Shoals in 1967, defining "I Never Loved a Man" and influencing Southern soul.
Answers: Who were Aretha Franklin's gospel influences?
Ghana's 60s Highlife Guitar Groove
Ghana's 1960s highlife guitar bands, from E.T. Mensah to Dr. K. Gyasi, forged a post-independence identity, blending tradition with Western sounds.
Answers: What role did highlife music play in Ghana after independence?
Whistle While You Work It
De La Soul's "Eye Know" masterfully recontextualizes Otis Redding's melancholic whistle from "Dock of the Bay" into a joyful hook, showcasing the innovative sampling that defined 3 Feet High and Rising and built on.
Answers: what song did de la soul sample for the whistle in 'eye know'?
Tropicalia: Art vs. Censors
Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil lead Tropicália's charge in late 1960s Brazil, fusing pop and traditional sounds to subvert the military dictatorship's censorship and defy arrest.
Answers: What was Tropicália?
Ethio-Jazz: Menelik's Enduring Voice
Menelik Wossenachew's "smooth as silk voice" and songwriting define Ethiopia's "Swinging Addis" Golden Age, blending traditional scales with jazz and influencing Ethio-jazz giants like Mahmoud Ahmed.
Answers: Who was Menelik Wossenachew?
Tape Loops to Digital Dreams
The Mellotron's distinct, imperfect textures, from The Moody Blues' melancholy to King Crimson's dark choirs, forge a memory sound Art of Noise later digitizes.
Answers: what instrument created that haunting memory-like sound in early prog rock?
Sampling's Sonic Alchemy
From Deee-Lite to Modjo, electronic artists transform forgotten funk and disco into new sonic identities, proving sampling's alchemy.
Answers: What samples did Deee-Lite use in "Groove Is In The Heart"?
Curtis Mayfield: Soul's Social Voice
From Chicago's Curtom Records, Curtis Mayfield's social soul, from "People Get Ready" to "Freddie's Dead," defines the Black Power themes and urban realism for James Brown and Donny Hathaway.
Answers: what song was called the unofficial anthem of the civil rights movement?
Synth's Funk Odyssey
Wendy Carlos's "Switched-On Bach" introduced the Moog, but it took Keith Emerson, Stevie Wonder, and the Ohio Players to make the synthesizer a genre-defining lead instrument in rock, funk, and hip-hop.
Answers: Who introduced the Moog synthesizer to the mainstream?
Baduizm: Echoes, Evolution, Empowerment
From Donny Hathaway and Marvin Gaye's conscious soul, Erykah Badu forged neo-soul, sparking Solange and SZA to redefine Black womanhood and vulnerability in modern R&B.
Answers: Who influenced Erykah Badu's music?
Favorite Things, New Rings
Ariana Grande's "7 rings" flips Rodgers and Hammerstein's "My Favorite Things" into a modern luxury anthem, tracing the melody's journey from Julie Andrews' innocence to John Coltrane's jazz and Luther Vandross's soul.
Answers: What classic song does Ariana Grande's "7 rings" interpolate?
Doechii Anxiety samples
Doechii's "Anxiety" and viral hits like "Yucky Blucky Fruitcake" define a new lane where genre-bending sound and introspective lyrics connect artists from Isaiah Rashad to JID.
Answers: what song did doechii sample for anxiety?
Mexico City's Cumbia Sonidera Heartbeat
Mexico City's sonidero culture takes Colombian cumbia, blends it with rock and global sounds from Rigo Tovar to Los Ángeles Azules, and makes it a vibrant urban heritage.
Answers: What are the origins of Mexico City's cumbia sound?
New Orleans Funk: The Meters' Groove
The Meters' minimalist grooves, born in 1965 New Orleans, forged a rhythmic identity that still echoes from Professor Longhair's 'Cuban tinge' to Snoop Dogg's 'Drop It Like It's Hot'.
Answers: When were The Meters formed?
Danube to Dissonance: Sour Times
Lalo Schifrin's cinematic suspense, heard on 1967's More Mission: Impossible, becomes the eerie foundation Portishead, Massive Attack, and Tricky sample to define Bristol's trip-hop sound.
Answers: What Lalo Schifrin song did Portishead sample for Sour Times?
Pharoah Sanders: Spirit's Ecstatic Sound
Pharoah Sanders' ecstatic saxophone, alongside John and Alice Coltrane, defines spiritual jazz's transcendent sound, a legacy still echoing from Impulse! to Kamasi Washington.
Answers: What was Pharoah Sanders' most popular album?
Dub Plates: Sound System Revolution
The fierce competition of 60s Jamaican sound systems, from U-Roy's toasting to King Tubby and Lee Perry's studio wizardry, births the remix and shapes global music.
Answers: What is a dub plate?
Khruangbin: Global Grooves & Live Sound
Khruangbin crafts a global instrumental sound in a Texas barn, blending 60s Thai funk, Iranian soul, and dub before evolving from "Dern Kala" to vocal collaborations like "Texas Sun" with Leon Bridges.
Answers: what are some of Khruangbin's main influences?
The White Album: Voices Emerge
The Beatles' 1968 double album, from 'Helter Skelter' to 'Dear Prudence,' captures the late-sixties explosion of individual artistic voices, from Blue Cheer's heavy rock to Vashti Bunyan's introspective folk.
Answers: What influenced John Lennon's 'Dear Prudence'?
Northern Soul: Anthems Reborn
In 1970s Northern England, clubs like Wigan Casino turned overlooked American soul from Frank Wilson to Gloria Jones into a high-octane, all-night dancefloor phenomenon.
Answers: what kind of music defined the northern soul scene?
Echoes of Afrobeat Rhythms
From Seun and Femi Kuti's direct lineage to Burna Boy and The Cavemen., Fela Kuti's polyrhythmic drumming shapes Afrobeat's intricate, evolving sound.
Answers: Who took over Fela Kuti's Egypt 80 band?
Krautrock: Cologne's Studio Revolution
From Cologne's Inner Space to Forst, Can, Neu!, and Kraftwerk, with Conny Plank, invent the motorik beat and ambient soundscapes that redefine rock.
Answers: what is the motorik beat?
Konono's Amplified Likembe Revelation
Konono Nº1's amplified likembé sound from Kinshasa exploded globally with 'Congotronics,' inspiring Björk, Herbie Hancock, and new generations to embrace its 'tradi-modern' power.
Answers: Who founded Konono Nº1?
Bay Area funk
Bay Area funk innovates, from Sly Stone's psychedelic soul to Larry Graham's slapping bass and Tower of Power's horn-driven East Bay Grease.
Answers: who invented the slap bass technique?
Dylan Electric: Betrayal or Rescue?
From Greenwich Village folk disciple to Newport's electric rebel, Bob Dylan's 1965 shift was a necessary artistic evolution, not a betrayal of acoustic purists like Pete Seeger.
Answers: why did folk fans get mad when bob dylan went electric?
LA's Anonymous Hitmakers
The Wrecking Crew's uncredited studio legends craft Spector's Wall of Sound on "Be My Baby" and define the California sound for The Mamas & The Papas, shaping 60s pop.
Answers: Who were The Wrecking Crew?
Monk's Soul, Kendrick's Fire
Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" repurposes Monk Higgins's 1968 soul grooves, revealing how foundational jazz-funk sessions from Chicago shape West Coast anthems.
Answers: where did the sample in Not Like Us come from?
The Art of Mono Immensity
The 60s saw producers like Phil Spector and Brian Wilson craft massive, layered mono soundscapes, from the Wall of Sound to The Beatles' studio as instrument, all for radio's airwaves.
Answers: How did Phil Spector achieve his "Wall of Sound"?
Tape vs. Circuitry: The Keyboards
The Mellotron's organic tape sounds and the synthesizer's pristine electronics offer two distinct paths that define pop's evolution from The Beatles to Daft Punk.
Answers: What instrument did The Beatles use for the opening of "Strawberry Fields Forever"?
Dylan's Newport Electric Shock
Bob Dylan plugs in at Newport 1965, sparking a folk firestorm with "Like a Rolling Stone" that challenges purists like Pete Seeger, even as The Byrds and Paul Butterfield Blues Band electrify the scene.
Answers: Why did the crowd boo Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival?
Covers That Erased Originals
The definitive version isn't always the first. Aretha Franklin redefines "Respect," and Johnny Cash makes Trent Reznor's "Hurt" his own.
Answers: how was aretha franklin's version of respect different from the original?
Wall of Sound: Studio as Symphony
Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, built at Gold Star Studios with The Wrecking Crew, transforms 1960s pop and echoes in Brian Wilson's Beach Boys and beyond.
Answers: Who was Phil Spector?
Beat Switches: Sonic Storytelling Shifts
The beat switch, from Kanye and Jay-Z's "Murder to Excellence" to Travis Scott's "SICKO MODE," evolves into a defining hip-hop technique, crafting dynamic narratives for Drake, Frank Ocean, and Kendrick Lamar.
Answers: what song made beat switches a global phenomenon?
The Amen Break: A Sampled Legacy
From The Winstons' 1969 B-side, Gregory Coleman's Amen Break travels from N.W.A.'s hip-hop to Photek's drum and bass, becoming music's most sampled loop.
Answers: what is the amen break?
Echoes of Quiet Revolutions
From The Velvet Underground's 1967 rock to Low's 1995 slowcore, quiet revolutions by Nick Drake, Brian Eno, and Cocteau Twins redefine genres with subtle power.
Answers: what band shifted from synth-pop to pioneering post-rock?
Stax's Indispensable Horns
From The Mar-Keys' "Philly Dog" to Otis Redding, the Memphis Horns forge Stax Records' gutsy sound, hitting listeners in the gut.
Answers: Who was Stax Records' first house band?
1967: Studio as Sound Canvas
In 1967, the studio became an instrument itself, as The Beatles, The Supremes, and Jimi Hendrix used tape manipulation and multi-tracking to craft sounds impossible to play live.
Answers: how did the role of the recording studio change in 1967?
Sgt. Pepper's: Songs or Possibility?
Sgt. Pepper's pushed boundaries, but The Beatles' Revolver and The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds already laid the groundwork for its studio innovations and psychedelic sound.
Answers: How did The Beatles redefine the album?
Miles' Electric Brew
Miles Davis's Bitches Brew forged fusion in 1970, injecting rock urgency and electric soundscapes into jazz, a studio-edited revolution that influenced Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi.
Answers: what was so revolutionary about bitches brew?
Jimmy Cliff: Reggae's Early Ambassador
Jimmy Cliff takes reggae global, building on Desmond Dekker's ska with pop hits and protest songs like "Vietnam," culminating in "The Harder They Come."
Answers: what did bob dylan say about jimmy cliff's song vietnam?
Laurel Canyon: Hillside Harmonies
Laurel Canyon becomes a bohemian refuge where Joni Mitchell, CSNY, and The Mamas & the Papas forge intricate harmonies and introspective folk-rock, chronicling shared lives and the era's tensions.
Answers: who lived with joni mitchell in laurel canyon?
Mahmoud Ahmed's Global Pulse
From Addis Ababa's Arizona Club, Mahmoud Ahmed's innovative blend of Amharic scales and Western jazz defines Ethio-jazz, launching its soulful 'Tizita' sound to global acclaim by the 1980s.
Answers: When was Mahmoud Ahmed's album 'Ere Mela Mela' re-released globally?
Wu-Tang's Soulful Sample Cipher
RZA's innovative sampling of Stax/Volt soul, from The Charmels' 'As Long As I've Got You' to Wendy Rene, lays the gritty foundation for Wu-Tang Clan's 'C.R.E.A.M.' and their solo empires.
Answers: what's the piano sample in Wu-Tang's C.R.E.A.M.?
Reggae's Global Debut
In 1972, The Harder They Come soundtrack delivers reggae's rebel spirit and an unfiltered look at Jamaican life to the world, cementing the sound of pioneers like Jimmy Cliff and Toots and The Maytals.
Answers: How did "The Harder They Come" film introduce reggae to a global audience?
Catalog Comeback: Sync's Second Life
Stranger Things and TikTok prove film and social media can resurrect classics like Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" and Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" into global phenomena.
Answers: How did Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill' become a hit again?
Altamont: The Night It Ended
Altamont's promise of a 'Woodstock West' quickly dissolves into chaos, as Santana's optimism gives way to the Stones' "Street Fighting Man" and the violent end of the 60s' dream.
Answers: why were the hells angels hired for security at altamont?
Stax Soul: The MG's Groove
From "Green Onions" to "Soul Man," Booker T. & the M.G.'s forge the unmistakable Memphis Sound, defining Stax Records' Southern soul as both hitmakers and house band.
Answers: who were booker t and the mgs?