Publisher's Synopsis
This revisionist resource guide is designed to illustrate the musical vibrance of the American soundscape between 1959 and 1963. Hopefully, the "Lost Years" notion will fade into oblivion. This text is a minefield of recording artists, hit songs, and other music-related information that should blast away all false assumptions circulated about early '60s American records. This volume highlights the accomplishments of numerous U.S. recording artists, both singer-songwriters and vocal/instrumental stylists alike, who either extended or initiated their performing careers between 1959 and 1963. The study also explores several audio off-shoots from early rock 'n' roll, including surf music and girl groups. The book then addresses a few idiosyncratic elements related to post-'50s musical growth and development. These include record label creations (Motown, Stax, and Fame), disc jockey influences (Dick Clark and John R), recording studio impacts (J&M Studios and Muscle Shoals), and independent songwriters of merit (Leiber & Stoller and Allen Toussaint). Under the general category of vignettes, a number of artists are profiled and several specific topics that stretch from '50s rock 'n' roll into the '60s rock realm are examined to illustrate the unbroken, uninterrupted connections within U.S. popular music during the so-called "Lost Years". Topics in this area range from The Coasters, Fats Domino, and The Isley Brothers to answer songs, instrumental hits, and nonsense lyrics. This volume concludes with an extensive "General Bibliography" that covers a breadth of professional writing about American popular music.
