Friday, April 7, 1967: KMPX

Tom Donahue takes over the 8 p.m.-to-midnight shift at FM radio station KMPX in San Francisco, extending the station's embrace of what came to be known variously as underground radio, progressive radio or free-form radio -- in other words, music beyond the bounds of top 40. (In February, Larry Miller had brought the anything-goes format to KMPX with his midnight-to-6 a.m. program.)

     -- Tom Donahue, left, at KMPX in 1967; photo by Michael Ochs

* "A Brief History of 106.9 FM in San Francisco" (Bay Area Radio Museum): @

* "FM 107 KMPX, San Francisco: Tom Donahue" (includes sound clip from May 1967; Bay Area Radio Museum): @

* Larry Miller handbill (Bay Area Radio Museum): @
* KMPX staff, 1968 (photo by Baron Wolman): @

* Donahue biography ("Encyclopedia of Radio," edited by Christopher H. Sterling, 2004): @
* Donahue biography (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame): @

* "One More Page in the Book of Love: Tom Donahue, 1928-1975" (Greil Marcus, 1975): @

* "Birth of Community Rock Radio: A Brief History of KMPX and KSAN-FM" (FoundSF): @

* KMPX entry from www.jive95.com (site devoted to KSAN; includes sound clips): @

* "KMPX San Francisco Radio Workers Strike 1968" (Global Nonviolent Action Database): @

* "Free-Form Revolutionaries of Top 40 Radio / How Donahue, Syracuse Rocked the Bay Area Airwaves" (www.sfgate.com, 1998): @

* "Rock Stations Giving Albums the Air Play" (Billboard, July 22, 1967): @
* "KMPX's Tom Donahue Programs Music with a Wide Open View" (Billboard, December 30, 1967): @
* "The Underground Radio Turn-On" (Look magazine, June 24, 1969; from New York Radio Archive; scroll down for page images): @

* "FM Underground Radio: Love for Sale" (Rolling Stone, April 1970): @

* "Hip Capitalism" (Susan Krieger, 1979): @ 
* "The Republic of Rock" (Michael J. Kramer, 2013): @

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Friday, March 31, 1967: Jimi Hendrix sets guitar on fire

During a show at London's Finsbury Park Astoria, Jimi Hendrix puts a match to his lighter-fluid-soaked guitar, a stunt that would be more famously repeated (and photographed) at the Monterey International Pop Music Festival in June.

     -- Image, news account from Associated Press

* Summary from www.jimihendrix.com: @
* Excerpt from "Jimi Hendrix Gear: The Guitars, Amps & Effects That Revolutionized Rock 'n' Roll" (Michael Heatley, 2009): @
* Excerpt from "The Words and Music of Jimi Hendrix" (David Moscowitz, 2010): @

* "Jimi Hendrix's PR Reveals Truth About First Guitar Burning" (Uncut, 2008): @

* "The Day Jimi Hendrix Set His Guitar on Fire for the First Time" (Ultimate Classic Rock, 2015): @

* Tour program (recordmecca.com): @ 

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Thursday, March 30, 1967: Photo shoot for 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'

The image on the album cover is composed of a collage of celebrities. There are 88 figures, including the band members themselves. Pop artist Peter Blake and his wife Jann Haworth conceived and constructed the set, including all the life-size cutouts of historical figures. The set was photographed, with the Beatles standing in the centre, by Michael Cooper. Copyright was a problem as Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager, had to locate each person in order to get permission to use their image in this context.

-- From Victoria and Albert Museum, London: @

* "Making The Cover for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (www.thebeatles.com): @

* "Cover shoot for Sgt. Pepper" (The Beatles Bible): @

* "Sgt. Pepper Cover" (The Beatles Website): @

* "Behind the Cover of Sgt. Pepper" (Entertainment Weekly): @
* "The Sgt. Pepper's Album Cover: Faces in the Crowd" (Performing Songwriter): @

* Summary from albumlinernotes.com: @

* More about Peter Blake ("The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four," Kenneth Womack, 2014: @ 

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Monday, September 12, 1966: 'The Monkees'

     Imagine the Marx Brothers as a long-haired rock and roll group, who make a movie called "A Hard Day's Night" to be shown on the "Hullabaloo" TV series. That, friends, is the briefest way to describe The Monkees!

     Filmed at the pell-mell pace of teenage existence, photographed with some offbeat movie-making techniques, the program stars a group of three Americans and one English boy who never saw each other before the series.

     The plot? The freewheeling description by NBC puts it this way: "The Monkees quartet play dates, but are more often 'at liberty,' where they must conquer such foes as automation, unemployment, longhair music, landlords, rival musicians, strict parents and fickle girlfriends."

     -- Summary from TV Week, September 1966

     -- Image from TV Guide (via http://monkee45s.net/)

* Official website: @

* www.monkeeslivealmanac: @
* www.monkees.net: @
* Album reviews (www.allmusic.com): @
* TV series (www.imdb.com): @

* " 'The Monkees' broke the fourth wall of 1960s TV" (www.avclub.com): @ 

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August 1966: The Beatles

"Revolver"

     The album was released on August 5 in Britain and August 8 in the United States.

* Summary from www.thebeatles.com: @

* Summary from The Beatles Bible: @

* "UK Album Release" (The Beatles Bible): @

* "U.S. Album Release" (The Beatles Bible): @

* "The Beatles: U.S. vs. UK Album Guide" (Ultimate Classic Rock): @

* Album review (Kevin Courrier, Critics At Large): @

* Album review (Scott Plagenhoef, Pitchfork): @

* "Classic Album Dissection" ("Sound Opinions," 2006): @

* "The Kinks vs. The Beatles: Ray Davies Thought 'Revolver' was Garbage" (dangerousminds.net): @

* "How I drew a pop art masterpiece for the Beatles" (The Guardian, 2016): @

* " 'Revolver': How the Beatles Reimagined Rock 'n' Roll" (Robert Rodriguez, 2012): @

"We're more popular than Jesus now"

* Post from March 4, 1966, when the story was originally published in the London Evening Standard: @

Candlestick Park, San Francisco

     The band's August 29 show marked their last live performance until their rooftop concert in London on January 30, 1969.

* Summary from The Beatles Bible: @

* "The Beatles at Candlestick in 1966: An oral history from the fans" (San Francisco Chronicle, 2014): @

* "Listen to cassette recording of The Beatles' final concert at Candlestick Park" (Consequence of Sound): @ 

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The Beatles' 'Butcher Cover'

March 25
Photo session with Robert Whitaker in Chelsea, London.
* Summary from The Beatles Bible: @
* Photos from session and album cover images (www.rarebeatles.com): @
* Robert Whitaker Photography: @
* More Beatles photos from Robert Whitaker (Morrison Hotel Gallery): @ 

June 3-4

Album cover photo appears in music advertisements.

* Summary from www.rarebeatles.com: @

June 11

Photo appears on cover of Disc and Music Echo.

* Summary from www.rarebeatles.com: @

June 14

Capitol Records sends letter to reviewers, telling them the cover is being replaced.

* Summary from abouthebeatles.com: @

June 15

Release date in United States.

* Summary from The Beatles Bible: @

* "Capitol Records has withdrawn the cover of the latest Beatles recording because disc jockeys complained it as offensive." (United Press International): @

June 25

* "Beatles LP Makes Cap. Run for Cover" (Billboard magazine, page 3): @

* Also in the issue is a full-page ad with the replacement cover (page 41).

Other resources

* Discography and Price Guide (www.rarebeatles.com): @

* www.thebutchercover.com: @
* www.thebeatlesbutchershop.com: @

* "Who Butchered the Beatles?" (www.snopes.com): @
* "Who Butchered the Beatles?" (www.recmusicbeatles.com): @

* "Who Butchered Who?" (www.popularmusic.info): @ 

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Monday, May 16, 1966: 'Pet Sounds'

Departing from the Beach Boys' surf-music roots, "Pet Sounds" was an emotive and carefully planned recording that attempted to present an album as a unified work and not merely a collection of singles. The album is notable for Brian Wilson's lead vocals* and the harmonizing support from the other band members. Equally compelling are the melodies and the arrangements, the latter featuring, among other instruments, horns, strings, theremin, accordion and a glockenspiel. The album has proven to be the most complete statement of Wilson's musical and lyrical aesthetic.

-- From National Recording Registry, Library of Congress

-- * Other group members also sang lead vocals, most notably Carl Wilson on "God Only Knows"

* Listen to the album (archive.org): @

* Album review (AllMusic): @

* Album reviews (Rolling Stone): @ and @

* "Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll: 'Pet Sounds' " (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame): @

* "The Making (and Remaking) of the Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds,' Arguably the Greatest Rock Album of All Time" (Open Culture): @

* "The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band, On Stage and in the Studio" (Keith Badman, 2004): @

* "The Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds' " (Jim Fusilli, 2005): @ 

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Monday, February 7, 1966: Crawdaddy magazine

Paul Williams, a student at Pennsylvania's Swarthmore College, publishes the first issue of Crawdaddy magazine, "intelligent writing about pop music." (Williams said it was actually printed on January 30 and given a publication date of February 7.) Though at first the magazine consisted entirely of record reviews, over time it added more in-depth coverage of the artists as well as of the era itself. Crawdaddy preceded such magazines as Rolling Stone (1967) and Creem (1969). 

     -- Image: First paragraph of first issue

* Selections from archives (Paste magazine): @

* Selections from archives (Rock's Back Pages; subscription required): @

* Selections from archives (complete issues from February 7, 1966, through October 1968): @

* Paul Williams website (Williams died in 2013): @
* "The Crawdaddy! Book: Writings (and Images) from the Magazine of Rock" (edited by Williams, 2002): @

* "Very Seventies: A Cultural History of the 1970s, from the Pages of Crawdaddy" (edited by Peter Knobler and Greg Mitchell, 1995): @
* Excerpt from "Understanding Popular Music Culture" (Roy Schuker, 2016): @

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Friday, December 10, 1965: The Fillmore

The San Francisco auditorium holds its first rock 'n' roll concert (thanks to promoter Bill Graham), a benefit for the San Francisco Mime Troupe. Unbilled but also playing that night: the Grateful Dead, having just changed its from the Warlocks.

-- Image from jerrygarcia.com: @

* Summary (thefillmore.com): @

* "Fillmore History" (www.thefillmoredistrict.com): @

* Handbill: @

* San Francisco Chronicle ad (published December 5; from Rock Archaeology 101): @

* Column by Chronicle's Ralph J. Gleason (published December 13: text @ and image @

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1965: 'Things Go Better with Coke'

Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, The Who, Petula Clark, Roy Orbison, the Supremes, Tom Jones ... these were just some of the popular musical artists who recorded advertising spots using Coca-Cola's slogan "Things Go Better With Coke" starting in 1965. The artists did not perform a standard jingle; instead, the radio ads mirrored their musical styles (or their hit songs) and incorporated the slogan.

* "How Coca-Cola Invited Music's Biggest Stars to 'Swing the Jingle' in the 1960s" (from Coca-Cola Co.): @

* "Swing the Jingle!" (partial list of artists; Coca-Cola Co.): @

* "Coca-Cola Commercials" (YouTube channel): @

* Record covers (www.vinylbeat.com): @
* "Things Go Better with Coke: Sixties Coca-Cola Commercials 1965-69" (CD; www.discogs.com): @
* "Coca-Cola Commercials" (CD; www.discogs.com): @
* "Coca-Cola Uncorks Teen Radio Drive" (Billboard magazine, July 10, 1965): @
* "Coke to Aim at Ethnic Groups" (Billboard, October 15, 1966): @
* "A History of Coca-Cola Advertising Slogans" (Coca-Cola Co.): @
* "Brand Image" (Michael Austin; from "Music in the Social & Behavioral Sciences: An Encyclopedia, 2014): @ 
* "For God, Country, and Coca-Cola: The Definitive History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It" (Mark Pendergrast, 2013): @

* "As Heard on TV: Popular Music in Advertising" (Bethany Klein, 2009): @

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September 1965: Eight-tracks in cars

Starting with its 1966 models, Ford is the first American automaker to offer eight-track players (as an optional installment for around $130).

-- Top image from Mustang specs (Ford publication): @

-- Middle image from The Kansas City Times (October 6, 1965)
-- Bottom image from United Press International (December 1965)

* "Ford Will Offer Motorola Tape Units in 1966 Cars" (Billboard magazine, April 3, 1965): @
* "RCA Fires 175-Title Burst With Release of Stereo 8 Cartridges" (Billboard, September 25, 1965): @
* "Tape for Turnpikes" (High Fidelity magazine, June 1965, page 42): @
* "Lear Jet 8-Track Recorder May Be Tape 'Breakthrough' " (United Press International, January 3, 1966): @
* "Stereo In Your Car" (High Fidelity, May 1966, page 58): @
* The Rise and Fall of the 8-Track" (Doug Hinman and Brabazon, 1994): @

* "A History of The Eight Track Tape" (David Morton, 1995): @

* "The 8-Track Cartridge" (from "Magnetic Recording: The First 100 Years," edited by Eric D. Daniel, C. Denis Mee, Mark H. Clark, 1999): @

* 8-Track Heaven (website): @

* Mustang TV ads: @ and @

* Thunderbird TV ad: @

* Optional equipment, 1966 Thunderbird (automotivemileposts.com): @ 

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Sunday, August 15, 1965: The Beatles at Shea Stadium

     The sound was unbelievable and more than a little terrifying.

     What started as a joyful shriek quickly became a steady scream, then a deafening howl and finally an ear-splitting roar like the takeoff noise of a giant jet or the launching of a rocket.

     It was the hysterical sound of more than 55,000 Beatles fans -- almost all of them sobbing teen-age girls. And it went on and on and on for the full 30 minutes that the four mop-top minstrels from Liverpool, England, performed Sunday night at Shea Stadium.

     -- United Press International (full story: @)

     -- Photo from New York Daily News

* Summary from Beatles Bible: @

* "There Were Howls at Shea Stadium as Beatles Sang" (Associated Press, August 16, 1965): @

* "Beatlemonium at Stadium -- Youngsters Get Carried Away" (Billboard magazine, August 28, 1965): @
* Excerpt from "Beatles-Discography.com: Day-by-Day Song-by-Song Record-by-Record" (Craig Cross, 2004): @
* "The Beatles at Shea Stadium: The Story Behind Their Greatest Concert" (Dave Schwensen, 2014): @

* "The Shea Stadium Concert" (www.beatlesource.com): @ 

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Sunday, July 25, 1965: Dylan goes electric

At the Newport Folk Festival, Bob Dylan surprises the audience with his hard-rocking set. Accounts vary as to whether the crowd was unhappy over his new style of music or over the  quality of the sound system.

     -- Photo from Michael Ochs Archives

* Summary (www.history.com): @
* Summary (www.smithsonianmag.com): @

* Video of "Maggie's Farm" performance: @
* Video of Pete Seeger's account: @

* Set list (www.bobdylan.com): @

* Excerpt from "No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan" (Robert Shelton, 1986): @

* "No Direction Home": @ 
* "Newport: It's All Right, Ma, I'm Only Playing R & R" (The Village Voice, August 5, 1965): @
* "The Legend of Dylan at Newport" (Sam Allis, The Boston Globe, 2002): @
* "Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties" (Elijah Wald, 2015): @

* "Dylan at Newport, 1965: Music, Myth and Un-Meaning" (Edward Renehan, 2015): @ 

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Monday, June 28, 1965: 'It's What's Happening, Baby'

In this prime-time special on CBS, hosted by disc jockey Murray the K (Murray Kaufman), performers donate their time and talents to educate teenagers about the function of the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity. ... In between segments, Murray the K and other entertainers comment on the various opportunities provided by the OEO and appeal to employers to help youths find work. (From The Paley Center for Media; link: @)

     -- TV listing from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 28

     -- Image from Martha and the Vandellas' performance of "Nowhere to Run," filmed at Ford's Dearborn Assembly Plant (where the Mustang was built)

Note: As of this writing the entire show is available online. Start here with part 1; to the right are links to parts 2 and 3.

* "Experimental Show Aimed at Teenagers" (Associated Press, June 25): @

* "Hip Show Passes the Word" (United Press International, June 29): @

* "Antipoverty Film Called 'Shameful' " (Associated Press, June 30): @
* "Battle Against Poverty Has Been Beset By Controversy, Criticism, Complaint" (United Press International, July 15): @
* " 'It's What's Happening' did the job: 10,000 wrote" (Washington Afro-American, July 27): @

* Entry from The Murray the K Archives: @

* Entry from Ray Charles Video Museum: @

* Chapter by Norma Coates in "Music in Television: Channels of Listening" (Edited by James Deaville, 2011): @

* Excerpt from "The SAGE Handbook of Popular Music" (Edited by Andy Bennett and Steve Waksman, 2015): @ 

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Sunday, June 20, 1965: The Beatles in Paris

Taken during one of their two performances at the Palais Des Sports. Photo by Patrice Habans.

* Summary from The Beatles Bible: @

* Summary from "The Unreleased Beatles: Music & Film" (Richie Unterberger, 2006): @

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June 1965: 'Yesterday' and 'Like a Rolling Stone'

Monday, June 14 and Thursday, June 17: The Beatles (specifically, Paul McCartney and a string quartet) record "Yesterday."

* From The Beatles Bible: @

* From "The Beatles Anthology" (2000): @
* From "All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Beatles Release" (Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon, 2013): @

Wednesday, June 16: Bob Dylan records "Like a Rolling Stone." 

* From Rolling Stone magazine (2015): @

* "Greil Marcus on Recording 'Like a Rolling Stone' " (NPR, 2005): @

* "Like a Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan at the Crossroads" (Marcus, 2005): @ 

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April-July 1965: 'Satisfaction'

April 1965 *

     I was between girlfriends at the time, in my flat in Carlton Hill, St. John's Wood. Hence maybe the mood of the song. I wrote "Satisfaction" in my sleep. I had no idea I'd written it, it's only thank God for the little Philips cassette player. The miracle being that I looked at the cassette player that morning and I knew I'd put a brand-new tape in the previous night, and I saw it was at the end. Then I pushed rewind and there was "Satisfaction." It was just a rough idea. There was just the bare bones of the song, and it didn't have all that noise, of course, because I was on acoustic. And forty minutes of me snoring. -- From "Life," by Keith Richards, 2010: @

     * According to other accounts, this occurred the night of May 6 in Clearwater, Florida, during the Rolling Stones' tour of North America. However, since Richards places it in London, this would have been before the tour, which began April 23 in Montreal, Canada. 

     Mick Jagger was also later quoted as saying that he and Richards worked on the song "half in Canada, half in Florida" (Melody Maker, June 26, 1965). Regardless, the opening riff and the phrase "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" are credited to Richards, while Jagger wrote most of the rest of the lyrics.

May 10-12
     The band records the song, first in Chicago (May 10) and then in Los Angeles (May 11-12).

May 20, May 26
     The band premieres the song on the television show "Shindig!" (The show was taped on May 20 and aired on ABC on May 26.)

Late May *
     The song is released in the United States.
     * Many accounts say the song was released June 5 or June 6, but the single was already on sale by then. The image above is from The Portsmouth (New Hampshire) Herald, June 3, 1965. Also, a music survey from KMEN in San Bernadino, California, indicates that the song was released on May 25; link: @.

June 5
     "Satisfaction" is first mentioned in Billboard magazine's "Singles Reviews," above.
     * June 5 issue: @

June 12
     The song debuts on Billboard's Hot 100 at No. 67.
     * June 12 issue: @

July 10
     "Satisfaction" reaches No. 1 on the Billboard charts; it stays at the top for four weeks, displaced on August 7 by "I'm Henry VIII, I Am" by Herman's Hermits.
     * Billboard chart for July 10 (from billboard.com): @
     * July 17 issue: @
     * July 24 issue: @
     * July 31 issue: @
     * August 7 issue: @

August 20 *
     "Satisfaction" is released in Britain. The B-side was "The Spider and The Fly," unlike the American release, whose B-side was "The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man."
     * Date approximate; from Billboard, August 21: "This week Decca rushes out in Britain the Stones' recent big American hit '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' ..."

Resources
* Entry from "Rocks Off: 50 Tracks That Tell the Story of the Rolling Stones" (Bill Janovitz, 2013): @

* Entry from "The Billboard Book of Number One Hits" (2003): @

* Entry from www.allmusic.com: @

* "The Rolling Stones' ('I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' " (Performing Songwriter, 2013): @

* "Behind the Song: 'Satisfaction' " (American Songwriter, 2012): @

* "Let It Read! The Ultimate Literary Guide to the Rolling Stones" (The Daily Beast, 2012): @
* "Rolling Stoned" (Andrew Loog Oldham, 2011): @
* "Stone Alone: The Story of a Rock 'n' Roll Band" (Bill Wyman, 1990): @

* "The Complete Works of the Rolling Stones" (database): @
* "The Rolling Stones: Off the Record" (Mark Paytress, 2003): @
* "The Rolling Stones: Fifty Years" (Christopher Sandford, 2012): @

* "1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music" (Andrew Grant Jackson, 2015): @

* Please Please Me: Sixties British Pop, Inside Out" (Gordon Thompson, 2008): @

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