1960s Music

This is a picture of the most popular songs and bands of the 1960s. Rock began to gain it's popularity throughout the 1950s, however it wasn't until the 1960s that Rock & Roll music greatly expanded. There were several different genres of rock in this decade such as progressive rock, surf rock and blues-rock. There was also a gain in popularity of singers that wrote their own music such as The Beatles. The Beatles, as you can see in the picture, broke through to mainstream music in the united states, it was known as "The British Invasion". British blues rock created a distinctive style of rock using the electric guitar. The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Led Zeppelin contributed to the British blues rock popularity. The British Invasion helped internationalize Rock & Roll and it also played a major part in the rise of rock groups using guitars and drums. In the early 1960s, the genre surf rock became exceedingly popular with bands like The Beach boys and The Ventures. In the mid-1960s, the genre blues-rock began to take off in popularity as it developed a similar sound to British musicians. Jimi Hendrix was an extremely well known blues-rock artist, as well as ZZ Top who became popular in the 1970s incorporating their southern rock sound. Motown, soul music and funk develop their popularity throughout the decade with artists such as The Marvelettes, James Brown and Aretha Franklin.