1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music (2 page)

7

Hunter S. Thompson, the Hells Angels, Allen Ginsberg, and Neal Cassady attend an LSD-fueled party at Ken Kesey’s.

7

Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour” hits No. 1 on the R&B chart with the delayed drumbeat that will become a Stax Records staple.

9

Massachusetts Institute of Technology implements the Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS) with the earliest-known form of e-mail, MAIL.

11–15

Riots erupt in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.

13

The Jefferson Airplane debuts at the San Francisco club Matrix.

14

Cher defends Sonny’s long hair in “I Got You Babe,” which tops the chart for three weeks.

15

Donovan releases his cover of Buffy St. Marie’s antiwar anthem “Universal Soldier,” which goes head to head with Glen Campbell’s version. In October, Campbell will say draft card burners should be hanged.

15

Otis Redding releases his composition “Respect.”

15

The Beatles play the first concert in a sports arena, Shea Stadium, with an attendance record (55,600) that will stand until 1973.

21

Waylon Jennings releases his first Nashville single, “That’s the Chance I’ll Have to Take.”

24

The Beatles trip with the Byrds and Peter Fonda in Los Angeles, and then visit Elvis Presley three days later.

25

Three members of the Sexual Freedom League are sentenced to three months (suspended) for staging a “Nude Wade-in” in San Francisco.

28

The Beach Boys reach No. 3 with “California Girls,” featuring Brian Wilson’s Bach-inspired intro.

30

Bob Dylan releases his visionary masterpiece
Highway 61 Revisited.

31

President Johnson decrees the burning of draft cards a crime punishable by a five-year prison sentence and a thousand-dollar fine.

September

1

Mary Quant’s eight-city “Youthquake” tour of U.S. department stores climaxes in New York, featuring models in miniskirts dancing to the band the Skunks.

6

Bakersfield’s Merle Haggard releases his first album
Strangers.

13

Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” is rereleased after being electrified by Dylan’s producer, Tom Wilson, in the style of the Byrds.

15

Bill Cosby becomes the first black actor to star in a TV drama with his role in
I Spy
. Four southern stations decline to air the show.

25

Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction” becomes the most topical song to hit No. 1. Along with attacking southern racism, it spotlights the injustice of being too young to vote but old enough to be drafted.

25

The Yardbirds reach No. 9 with “Heart Full of Soul,” in which Jeff Beck imitates the Indian sitar on his guitar with a fuzz box.

25

The Animals’ “We Gotta Get out of This Place,” by Brill Building songwriters Mann and Weil, peaks at No. 13.

25

The Barbarians make it to No. 83 with their long-hair anthem “Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?”

October

1

The Yardbirds emulate Gregorian chants in the U.K. B side “Still I’m Sad.”

9

The Beatles’ “Yesterday,” with baroque string quartet, tops the pop chart for four weeks and becomes the most covered song of the decade.

15–16

The Vietnam Day Committee helps coordinate the International Days of Protest against American Military Intervention, with antiwar groups in more than forty cities in the United States and Europe.

15

Country Joe (McDonald) and the Fish perform the “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag” at a Berkeley teach-in.

15

The Great Society, with Grace Slick, debuts at the Coffee Gallery in San Francisco’s North Beach.

16

Despite Allen Ginsberg chanting “Hare Krishna,” members of the Hells Angels attack antiwar protestors in Oakland.

16

Scenesters from the psychedelic Red Dog Saloon, named the Family Dog, organize the dance party “A Tribute to Dr. Strange” at the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) hall, in San Francisco, with Jefferson Airplane, the Charlatans, and the Great Society.

23

The pro-war “Hello Vietnam,” recorded by Johnnie Wright, tops the country charts for three weeks.

24

The Family Dog holds “A Tribute to Sparkle Plenty” at the ILWU hall in San Francisco, with the Lovin’ Spoonful and the Charlatans.

26

Queen Elizabeth II declares the Beatles “Members of the Order of the British Empire” at Buckingham Palace.

26

The Rolling Stones record “As Tears Go By” with strings, in imitation of “Yesterday.”

30

Otis Redding tops the R&B album charts with
Otis Blue
, which includes his cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction.”

30

Supermodel Jean Shrimpton is criticized for wearing a minidress to the Victoria Derby in Australia.

30

Fontella Bass tops the R&B charts for four weeks with “Rescue Me.”

November

1

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles release their
Going to a Go-Go
album.

6

Bob Dylan’s attack on his former folk community, “Positively 4th Street,” peaks at No. 7.

6

The Rolling Stones’ “Get off My Cloud” b/w “I’m Free” hits No. 1 for two weeks.

13

The Lovin’ Spoonful releases “You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice,” inspiring the melody of Brian Wilson’s “God Only Knows.”

19

Nancy Sinatra records future women’s liberation anthem “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’.”

19

The
Berkeley Barb
publishes Allen Ginsberg’s essay “Demonstration or Spectacle as Example, as Communication, or How to Make a March/Spectacle,” which extols the use of flowers in protest marches, the concept later dubbed “flower power.”

19

The Leaves release the garage rock anthem “Hey Joe.”

22

Bob Dylan secretly marries Sara Lownds; their first son, Jesse Byron, is born January 6.

22

Stevie Wonder releases “Uptight,” with a beat inspired by “Satisfaction.”

27

Ken Kesey holds the first public Acid Test, in Santa Cruz, with punch bowls spiked with LSD.

27

The Turtles’ anti-conformity anthem, “Let Me Be,” peaks at No. 29.

29

Johnny Cash records his folk spoof “The One on the Right Is on the Left.”

30

Ralph Nader publishes his exposé of the automobile industry,
Unsafe at Any Speed.

December

3

On their
Rubber Soul
album, the Beatles use the sitar for the first time in a pop song to make “Norwegian Wood” seem less Dylanesque, with lyrics depicting the burgeoning sexual revolution.

3

The Beatles try to match “Satisfaction” with their own soul-inflected dance hit, “Day Tripper,” and try to out-jangle the Byrds with “Nowhere Man.”

3

The Rolling Stones begin recording
Aftermath
, featuring Brian Jones on a variety of exotic instruments.

3

The Who Sings My Generation
album explodes with some of the most aggressive guitar, drum, and bass work yet committed to vinyl.

4

James Brown’s second funk single, “I Got You (I Feel Good),” tops the R&B chart for six weeks with the most prominent bass on the airwaves, courtesy of band member Bernard Odum.

4

The Byrds own the No. 1 spot through Christmas Eve via their cover of Pete Seeger’s “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season),” with lyrics from the Bible.

4

The Grateful Dead play the second Acid Test, in San Jose, becoming Ken Kesey’s house band.

7

The Massachusetts Supreme Court upholds high school officials’ right to suspend students with long hair.

8

With the help of their friend Barry McGuire, the Mamas and the Papas release the folk-rock “California Dreamin’,” with baroque flute accompaniment.

9

A Charlie Brown Christmas
debuts on CBS.

11

The Velvet Underground opens for the Myddle Class at New Jersey’s Summit High School.

16

Mary Beth Tinker and Christopher Eckhardt are sent home for wearing black armbands to their Iowa high school to protest the war. The students will take their case to trial, and in 1968 the U.S. Supreme Court will rule in favor of their right to self-expression.

18

The Animals’ anthem of independence, “It’s My Life,” reaches No. 24.

20

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee newsletter announces the formation of the Lowndes County Freedom Organization. Its symbol is the black panther.

31

With the help of their new manager, Andy Warhol, the Velvet Underground appears in a segment of the
CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite
.

31

U.S. troops in Vietnam number 184,000 at year’s end.