1965 seems like an oft-ignored year in music history (well, maybe not)...1965 was the peak of the British invasion after its resounding entrance with Beatlemania and a bevy of other English groups a year later like Gerry and the Pacemakers, Hermans Hermits.etc. It also saw the burgeoing west coast scene in California with bands like the Byrds, Mammas and the Papas, a vibrant NY folk scene with Simon and Garfunkel, the Lovin' Spoonful, and of course Dylan and Baez. Pre-packaged pop (i.e. the Monkees) wasn't as dominant as it would become in later years. What are your impressions of the year? To you, how does it compare to the early and late 60s?

I think '65 was possibly the most pivitol year in rock history.  More of a protest anti-establishment genre seemed to begin or at least get more production then.  The Beatles really had a different sound on their Beatles 65 album.  I think after Kennedy was shot, life began to unravel, hair was getting longer, the hippie style was being born, drug use was becomming more common, these and other changes had a profound effect on the music and life of the time which has been heard in music ever since.

I think '65 was possibly the most pivitol year in rock history.  More of a protest anti-establishment genre seemed to begin or at least get more production then.  The Beatles really had a different sound on their Beatles 65 album.  I think after Kennedy was shot, life began to unravel, hair was getting longer, the hippie style was being born, drug use was becomming more common, these and other changes had a profound effect on the music and life of the time which has been heard in music ever since.


1965 was a real juncture year before two highly volatile scenes, which would blend and transmutate into the mind-bogglingly busy music scene of the late 60s. The early 60s are often seen as desiderate -  a real lull in pop music and creativity. It was actually a very commercial period in music history - as commercial as today, or even more so. You had pre-packaged pop stars (too many to name), competing with up and comers like Paul Anka, Barry Manilow, Frank Ifield, Petula Clark.etc. Yet it also coincided with the anthemic 'anti-commercial protest movement' - the folkies, closely allied to the Beatnik movement, if not always emanating from it. Folk rock was responsible for the hippy/soft rock/instrumental side of late 60s music, while the heavier stuff was more influenced by Blues/Garage bands like the Kinks, Rolling Stones, MC5.etc. Hence, 1965 saw the meeting of these two musical rich musical veins.

I think '65 was possibly the most pivitol year in rock history.  More of a protest anti-establishment genre seemed to begin or at least get more production then.  The Beatles really had a different sound on their Beatles 65 album.  I think after Kennedy was shot, life began to unravel, hair was getting longer, the hippie style was being born, drug use was becomming more common, these and other changes had a profound effect on the music and life of the time which has been heard in music ever since.


I agree.

Do you think that stuff would've still happened if JFK had lived?

Many people consider the "end of the '50s"/loss of innocence to have happened when he was shot in Nov '63. They also cosider the "start of the 60s" to be in Feb 1964 when the Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan.

Those happened at almost the same exact time, so I'm sure some of the events would've been the same (i.e. The Beatles and the British Invasion becoming popular. By that time, music hadn't changed much for about 5 years, and it was almost a decade since rock had been "exciting" and new, so it was the right time anyway). However, maybe it would've still had more of an "innocent" feel to it and the counterculture late '60s wouldn't have been as drastic?

As huge as it was, the impact of J.F.K's assasination on popular events, culture, and the American (And world psyche) is overrated. And as I've pointed out before, the correlation between pop music and politics isn't as strong as often claimed (though there is definitely correlation). In the early 60s you had other sweeping changes like Civil Rights, more votes for women, the emergence of Feminism, rights for minorities, workers rights.etc - a whole range of massive social change. This translated in the music scene through a more youth-orientated scene (young people were also carving their position in the social strata), more experimental/daring lyrics/musical styles, and a vibrant Artistic/Pop-Art movement in North America, Europe and elsewhere. All these factors helped to explain why music developed at such a giddy, break-neck pace in the 60s.