Hey--
On the whole, what kind of music did those born in the 1910s and 1920s tend to like? Like what sort of music was popular in the 40s, 50s, and early 60s (besides rock). By early 60s I mean 1960-1964.

Basically I'm curious as to what the WWII generation was into musically, and since in my family all of those who were alive and old enough to fight in WWII are long gone, I figured I'd ask you guys.

1940's... swing/big band and jazz

40's- I really don't know.
50's- Doo wop, rockabilly, country.
60's- Girl groups were huge between 1960-1963!

My grandfather was born in 1916, and he loved Big Band music.

Ant

My grandfather was born in 1916, and he loved Big Band music.

Ant




Very true about Big Band music. Apparently back in the early 1900s, the band (orchestra) were the stars - not the vocalists. In fact vocalists were only used on rare occasions. By the way this info is all from a documentary I watched not long ago.   :)

Certainly in the 1940's Orchestra's were the "Top Artists". Count Basie, Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey Orchestras were extremely popular.
As regards individuals well at the time Bing Corsby was king of the Crooners and people such as Perry Como were making a nice earning singing songs of the time. A very young Frank Sinatra was finding his feet and was a bit of a pop idol. Jazz and Swing were very much in vogue as were singing groups such as the Andrews Sisters. You should Youtube some of these artists to give yourself an idea of what they sounded like.

My dad was of that era.  His music was jazz, big band, and the big crooners.  BTW he regarded "my" music (late 60's-on rock era music) unmusical, junk, noise.  Typical Dad.  ::)

My dad was of that era.  His music was jazz, big band, and the big crooners.  BTW he regarded "my" music (late 60's-on rock era music) unmusical, junk, noise.  Typical Dad.   ::)



What did he think of Doo Wop, like the late 50s-early 60s?

The 50s and 60s were heavy on the crooners.  Guys in suits, or ladies in a fancy gown, singing to music that incorporated alot of string instruments.  Then came the Teen Idol.  I don't know how it was in other countries, but Canada started to embrace the Teen Idol around this time as well.  Guys like Paul Anka, Bobby Curtola and Terry Black started populating the airwaves.

During the first half of the century, dance bands and light orchestras were the thing of the day...it was only until after WW2 (and the long American musicians' strike) that solo singers really came to the fore (Sinatra, Como and the like), who all started as vocalists in dance bands in the first place...

A tip of the hat is directed at The Inkspots who, apart from being highly popular at the time, laid down the blueprints for doo-wop...

The early 1900's involved Ragtime Music. It wasn't until WWI when Jazz became king. Blues actually came during the Depression. Big Band was around during the 40's and some of the 50's.

This was all prior to Rock Music.

Speaking for the US, it also depended on what geographical area you grew up in.  

In the south and southeast, in the 40s and 50s, a lot of popular music was country, bluegrass and gospel.  In the poor rural areas such as the Appalachias, it wasn't just what you listened to it's what you played yourself because you couldn't afford a radio and couldn't get a signal even if you could afford one.  That music tended to be versions of folk tunes and ballads brought over from the Irish and Scottish immigrants that moved into those areas.

Now in the west and southwest there was western music, which is different from country and is what Western Swing music descended from.  If you're interested look up Sons of the Pioneers for western music and Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys or Patsy Montana for Western Swing.  Also, Bill Haley and the Comets sprang out of Western Swing.

For the record, what most of us see in old movies, etc. and consider to be Swing music is what is called Eastern Swing, Jitterbug or Jive and is different from Western Swing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMOhsvhF4Jw

Generally speaking, did members of the WWII generation like stuff like Frankie Valli (Walk Like a Man and the like) or were they too ''old'' by the early '60s to appreciate the newer stuff?

Generally speaking, did members of the WWII generation like stuff like Frankie Valli (Walk Like a Man and the like) or were they too ''old'' by the early '60s to appreciate the newer stuff?


The WWII generation is traditionally known for dissenting rock and roll music. Some of the early '60s softer stuff like Connie Francis, Brenda Lee, and Rick Nelson were sometimes accepted by the adult crowd, and when I go through record collections, I see that WWII generation people still tended to like instrumentals and there were still such hits as late as 1962. What's important is that the WWII generation was still the main crowd buying full-length albums, as most young people didn't have enough money to afford anything other than singles. They also continued to enjoy newer Jazz, embracing the coming Jazz Fusion trend as well in their middle adulthood. They continued to enjoy musicals and soundtracks. One benefit of this is that most albums of this period are worth a fraction of what the rock/R&B albums of this same era are worth; many can be found on eBay lots often around 50 cents a piece, mostly just for sentimental value. They also still prefered aging crooners like Perry Como, Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra and mostly listened to the "Beautiful Music" format on the radio- a mix of instrumentals and soft pop hits, current and semi-old. To me, the last "WWII generation" year of music was 1954. Note how 1947-54's biggest hits are softer than their youthful '30s/early-mid '40s swing stuff as the Vets were well into adulthood and wanted a more peacful sound (lots of Silent Generation people first came of age during that era as well, so they were initially used to no-frills pop); so many were moving away from the city and into the suburbs, and the musical shift really reflects that. Of course it all ended in 1955 with the rockers, and it forced the over-25 crowd to continue to find artists who had a similar style. It's sort of like the adult contemporary generation of it's era, enjoying safer, less rebellious music.


A good "rough estimate" circa 1965 of what a WWII generation (around 40 at the time) and a young adult (around 20 at the time) had in an average 45 record collection, based on 50 single records:

WWII: http://cgi.ebay.com/lot-of-50-POP-STANDARDS-45s-from-the-1950s-60s_W0QQitemZ300391914289QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMusic_on_Vinyl?hash=item45f0c0db31

Early Baby Boomer: http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-of-55-45s-50s-60s-Rock-Pop-Soul-with-tote-case_W0QQitemZ120523960193QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1c0fc9af81 (ignore the late '60s songs and consider the rest).

Of course older people tended to keep their records longer (and played less probably) than the record-wearing youngins.

The Bubble Gum sound was popular in the late 1960s.